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Topic: Goodbye Benji (Read 1061 times)

I've never mentioned him before, but I co- owned a miniature poodle. His name was Benji.

When we adopted Benji, he was "special".We got him from a Petco adoption event in early in 2014. He was 10 years old and only cost us $100.He didn't know much; he couldn't play, walk on a leash, and he preferred to sleep the days away. In his past life, it was clear that he had been abused. Yet somehow, this small, smelly dog worked his way into our hearts. Maybe it was the way he pranced when he was happy, or his many ridiculous failures but we came him to love him.

In recent times, though, he was declining. He stumbled more, fell further into the darkness of his blindness and appeared to become more deaf and gone. I left for two weeks to go on vacation last month, and when I got back, he seemed so much worse.

It was when he had a seizure this morning that I knew the Ben we had known had passed on. I said my goodbyes then. We took him to the vet. I elected not to go. The news was not good. He had dementia and a seizure that late in life was not a good sign. Although steroids would have helped for a week, it would have been prolonging the inevitable. We decided to put him to sleep.

Benji, it's for the better. I hope that your in better place now. I hope that the trauma that you were afflicted with is erased and that you are no longer burdened by age and your various afflictions. Play hard at the bridge little man. You've earned it